Predictability key to attracting investors

Business leaders are calling on the government to become more business friendly if it wants to attract investors. Photo: Daniel Hayduk

Tanzania has a ‘long way to go’ before it becomes investor friendly, says the chairman of the CEO Roundtable Ali Mufuruki.

“Tanzania needs to compete for capital and investment in the world. That won’t happen just by saying it, but by making the country attractive and predictable,” says Mufuruki in an interview with the Citizen.

Mufuruki says a stable environment in which the government does not alter policies and introduces more investor friendly laws are needed to attract investors.

The chairman of the Tanzania Shipping Agents Association, Peter Kirigini, called for a reduction in port clearance times to expedite cargo transfer and reduce dwell time.

Dwell time, the number of days a ship spends in port, can cost $20,000 USD (43.5 million TSH) per day, a cost that Kirigini says is passed on to consumers.

“The government is supposed to ease the burden by reducing the number of compulsory permits, by simplifying them or scrapping them,” says the chairman of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries Samuel Nyantahe, citing the many regulatory agencies many investors also need to navigate.

Laws need to be strengthened to assure investors that their investments will not be threatened, says Nyantahe.

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